my sons first model build

[robriley]

so my son jackson got this kit for his 9th birthday last october.(2010)
I had him spray the interior and the chassis with flat black (his first encounter with a spray can).
after waiting for the paint to dry, he lost interest...lol.
so the car went back into the box where it sat until tonight.
he got it out and wanted to work on it.
so, i let him rummage through my parts because he said that he wanted a different engine and different wheels for it.
so for the engine, he picked the biggest one he could find that would fit in the engine bay, i think it's from a super zinger lil red truck because it's like 1:20 scale and molded in red & black.
he picked the wheels because (in his words) they look like the kind that are on those cars that race across the salt. (a bonniville salt flat racer).
even tho he left off some parts (radiator, hood, firewall,exhaust, and transmission) and the body isn't painted, it came out looking pretty cool.
he did it all himself, but I did help with some of the glue application because I use superglue and i didn't want him getting it all over his fingers or all over the kitchen table. i applied the glue but he put the parts on and aligned them.
not bad for a first glue kitbash huh?

[Dennis M]

Great job' keep um coming. Dennis

[ira]

[glow=red,2,300]GREAT BUILD!!![/glow]

[Vintagercr]

Excellent Job!

[surfjunke]

Welcome to the hobby. The Camaro came out really cool. Very nice work & a great first build.

[skulldude]

MAN! I remeber my first model....AMT "WWII JEEP"!
It DID NOT look this GGGGGGRRRRREAT!!! Keep em comin!! Cannot wait to see more!!

[ramone]

The kid has got potential!!! Looks great!!!
After building a first model looking that good,I'm sure he will get his mind set on the next one.
And this is what our hobby needs!!!Away from the playstation and get their creative juices flowing!!!!!

[robriley]

Yeah he's very creative and artistic.
when we build pinewood derby cars, he always tells me how to cut the body, and he always picks the paint colors.
I do all of the cutting, and he does all of the sanding,
together, we do my soeed secrets to the wheels and axles and assemble / weight the cars.
he has won the first 2 pinewood derbies that he entered, but last year he came in 4th.
he also always wins a ribbon for the best looking car.
this year, he has his mind set on making his pinewood derby car look like the Pierson brothers coupe.
now he wants to rummage through all of my model parts to build another model. I'll let him pick whatever he wants but this time, i'm going to get him to paint the body.

[ramone]

Way Kool!!!!!!
Can't wait to see his first paint job!!!

[Wardster]

Nov 20, 2011 9:47:29 GMT -6 robriley said:

now he wants to rummage through all of my model parts to build another model. I'll let him pick whatever he wants but this time, i'm going to get him to paint the body.

You know your kid better than we do, of course, but just as a suggestion: if he wants to stay in "no paint" mode a while longer, I'd say "let him". (You had mentioned he lost interest, in the "waiting for the paint to dry" stages of things.) Instead, for now: why not suggest to him that he try adding some decals? It just seems to me that when I was a kid, decaling wasn't at all intimidating, but "painting the whole thing" remained in "I don't know about that" mode, a while longer. I was comfortable with a brush, but not a spray can, for a long time. (Couldn't afford them, either!) But after a while it became obvious to me that decaling only went so far, and brush painting only went so far; and, when I felt my comfort zone wouldn't mind the extra expansion, I just naturally moved on to "painting everything" as a next step. My progression may have taken longer than his, as I only had help on the first model or two; and then, I was building on my own.

All that said: add another "Majorly cool looking car!!" to the pile of comments, on this build! I hope he keeps on building; and you keep on showing us what he's done.

[robriley]

yep, i let him go through my stuff and he decided to pick a 40 ford sedan kit that i had.
I told him that there's no right or wrong way to build it, and that he doesn;t have to paint it if he didn;t want to.
the look on his face was as if a big weight had been lifted because the idea of paint was out of the picture.
I just told him to build it however he wanted and that eventually he will pick up his own building style.
He just needs to concentrate on his assembly skills....paint will come later.

[koffinbuilder64]

Way kool Rob!! Tell your son that he did an excellent job!! My ten yr. old son has expressed an interest in trying modeling too! We will see if he goes anywhere with it.

[Wardster]

Nov 20, 2011 21:29:12 GMT -6 robriley said:

He just needs to concentrate on his assembly skills....paint will come later.

Well, since he's a Pinecar builder, too, you may want to check out my most recent post on my Santa's Sleigh (showrods in progress section) thread ... since recent experiments I've been doing have taught me how to use T-shirt paints to dye things like pine wood. He may not mind wood staining, in the short term, as it's an easier process... but it's not much good on plastic kits, I'm afraid!

[RatRod]

Way to go Jackson!!!

[Starry Eyes]

Excellent work!! It should have no problems smoking the tires... I like it!! Really nice kit bash...

[flounder]

Wow! That is so cool. Glad to see he is not shy on the horsepower. This looks VERY right!

[itsonlyakit]

GOOD STUFF happening here, another suggestion for your son to try would be a pre-decorated die cast kit "Maisto" being one name out there. Some painting by brush and small screwdriver gets it done.